BiblioCommons Unveils New Mobile Friendly Catalog and More Patron-Friendly Enhancements at ALA
BiblioCommons is pleased to debut a newly designed BiblioCore catalog at the American Library Association Annual Conference 2015. The redesigned catalog features responsive design, streamlined search results, and unique enhancements to support readers’ advisory.
The BiblioCommons software-as-a-service catalog, BiblioCore, works with all major integrated library systems (ILS) and replaces the traditional patron catalog in order to encourage community engagement around a library’s collections, integrate the library’s events and online resources into the patron’s path, and promote the expertise of librarians as readers’ advisory and reference specialists to their communities. The BiblioCore catalog serves many of the top libraries in the United States including Chicago Public, Brooklyn Public, Seattle Public, Boston Public, King County Library System, San Francisco Public, and many other large urban and suburban library systems.
With the new mobile-friendly design, BiblioCore will be the first catalog for public libraries to feature a responsive design and formatting for any device—without requiring a separate mobile app. Additionally, BiblioCommons is unveiling streamlined, FRBR-style (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) search results to create a search experience similar to popular online media retailers.
The re-designed BiblioCore catalog will also feature a new, unique readers’ advisory functionality dubbed “While You Wait.” The “While You Wait” feature will offer title-based recommendations (often referred to as readalikes) whenever a patron is placing a hold, reviewing holds, or is looking at a title that is currently unavailable. “We want to help libraries steer patrons toward appealing titles that are currently available,” said Beth Jefferson, Co-Founder of BiblioCommons. “We want to ensure that patrons turn to their public libraries to discover titles they wouldn’t have found on their own.”
Much of the company’s work of the last few years has involved developing connectors to each of the major ILS platforms popular in North America. “After the heavy lifting of developing connectors to each ILS, we can finally turn our attention back to the design and user experience of library patrons online,” Jefferson continued, “the success of the online experience for public library patrons is crucial to the future success of libraries. Our team is very excited about these new developments, and we look forward to sharing more at ALA 2015.”
The newly designed catalog will be rolling out in phases to all BiblioCommons libraries over the upcoming months with the responsive catalog live to patrons by the end of the summer and the FRBR-style search results coming out later in the year.
To learn more, please contact BiblioCommons at info@bibliocommons.com or stop by the BiblioCommons booth #3519 at the American Library Association Annual Conference in San Francisco.
About BiblioCommons
BiblioCommons first started as a non-profit youth literacy initiative and now provides online solutions to public libraries worldwide. The BiblioCore catalog service replaces all search and account management functionality of the traditional web catalog, works on top of existing Integrated Library Systems (ILSs), integrates seamlessly with the library’s branding and website navigation, and delivers a robust social discovery experience. In addition to a full suite of complementary services, BiblioCommons recently released BiblioCMS, a complete solution for content and website management. Details on all services are at: http://www.bibliocommons.com/products.
Contact: For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Maxine Levine at 647 436 6381 x2026 or maxine@bibliocommons.com.